Ramps and Pathways- Week 2

"Play is our brain's favorite way of learning."  Diane Ackerman

We are discovering that ramps are everywhere!  Did you know a pool noodle can be cut in half to make a ramp for our marbles?  The inside groove is a nice place to roll a marble!   The pool noodle will also bend.  Our marbles can go up and down!   We added pool noodles to our ramp area in our classroom this week. 

We also discovered that we have a ramp in our hallway!  We walked up and down the ramp. It definitely takes much more energy to walk UP the ramp.  

  This week we performed an experiment.  We needed more room so we went into the hallway.   I told the children we were going to use the same ramp with several different balls and objects.   I asked each child to predict how far their individual ball was going to go.  

First, each child took time to look at the qualities of the ball.   Is it heavy?   Is it smooth?  Is it round?  Is it hollow or solid?   We are learning that all of these qualities affect how far our balls will roll.   We are learning to make good educated guesses.     

Next, I  gave each child a piece of tape and they marked the spot where they predicted their ball would roll.     Next came the fun part, we watched intensely as each child tested out their ball.   Wheeeeeeeeee!!!   The children discovered that the small, round balls will roll very far!    The big, heavy balls did not roll very far.   We also discovered that if the ball had a rough texture, it would not go very far.    The children had a BLAST conducting this experiment.   We also attracted several students from the upper grades who were passing by...they were fascinated by our ramps! 

WOW!  Look how far Abbie's ball is going!

RAMP CENTER EXPLORATIONS

Layna is excited to see how far her marble will roll.  She has connected 3 pool noodles in order to make a very long ramp.

Katelyn created a tunnel for her marble.   She also put a large ball at the bottom to stop her marble from falling off the table and onto the floor.  We are learning that obstacles can be useful! 

Gavin is testing out his marble on his newly designed ramp.   Will his marble go down and then up? Gavin is becoming a pro at creating ramps!



VIDEO:  This week we used our QR Codes to look at Outdoor Ramps. 

We are VERY thankful for our new discovery ramp set!   The wood is smooth and the students have been having a blast creating and designing new ramps.    Thank you! 

 
We also celebrated our 100th day of school.  We focused on literacy and math activities for the day.   The students really enjoyed seeing a picture of how they might look at 100 years.   They created an oral story using Audioboo.com.  I am very pleased to see their oral language skills increasing.  

We know that strong oral language skills leads to strong reading and writing skills.